cmsix John and Argent by cmsix Chapter 29 I was up early the next morning and I woke Kateata by twisting and pinching on her nipples. Of course dicky wanted to play but I didn't think that we had time. I headed for the edge of the bed making sure I kissed and nibbled on every naked woman I crawled over. When I hit the floor I grabbed some clothes and headed for a shower. I wasn't even soapy before Shelalliea, Roweea and Kateata joined me. I did my best to help them wash and noticed that the big shower kept acquiring new participants. That was fine with me. After finally rinsing I went out to dry myself, leaving the women wet and naked and mostly still soapy. I was half dressed before they started coming out. Dalia did a fast job of drying and dressing and headed for the coffee pot. She had it in business before I got out to the kitchen and the coffee was almost ready when I arrived. Shelalliea appeared next and soon I had a cup of coffee and I could smell bacon and eggs frying. There was toast in the oven and all was right in my world for a time. When the food was ready I dug in with gusto. Georgo had made an appearance as the food got ready and he was doing a good job on his own plate. "What is the first thing for this morning John." He asked me between bites. "The first order of business is teaching Dargo to ride. We should probably let him get started before we begin hunting." "I think you are right. He will have much traveling to do. If he can ride it shouldn't take him very long though." Georgo said. "Bigglieo told me that Dargo was accustomed to working with the horses since he had helped with all the carrying that we have been doing lately. I think that Dargo actually wants to learn to ride. It probably won't take long to get him on his way." It didn't. Dargo took to riding Ben with no troubles. He was a little afraid to go into a trot and a little more afraid to gallop but he caught on soon enough. Even though I already had a western style saddle for Ben, Argent had sent a McClellan for him also and I let Dargo use it. It would be lighter for Ben and it would have a better arrangement for Dargo to tie his sleeping furs onto. There were also saddlebags for it that Dargo could use to carry food for his trip. By the time we had Dargo on his way Bigglieo and the others had already hitched the wagon and the new bigger wagon and everything was ready for the hunt. I got my binoculars, M1 and ammunition and climbed onto the new wagon's seat; all my mates were already onboard. Bigglieo flicked the reins and we were off. We drove the wagon to within a hundred yards of the top and then everyone got off. Racaato, Natalto, Barago, Britta and Erieta were in the other wagon and we waited for them to join us. Walking to the top ahead of the others I used the glasses and spotted a bison herd not more than half a mile from us. I signaled to the others and we started walking toward it slowly. I spied a small rise no more than four hundred yards from the herd and I took a prone position when I got to the top. All the others kneeled or sat behind me and I motioned for Bigglieo to come up beside me. I scanned the herd with the glasses while Bigglieo looked around for any other complications that might be nearby. I was still studying the herd when Bigglieo nudged my shoulder and pointed in the distance toward a moving presence barely visible with the naked eye. I used the binoculars and as I focused on the movement I recognized Smilodon fatalis, commonly called the saber-toothed tiger. Smilodon was a cat all right but not really a tiger. With the glasses I could see the big, magnificent bastard stalking the periphery of the bison herd. He seemed as nonchalant as an English barrister out walking the dog. As I studied the big cat it stopped and crouched, partially concealing itself in the tall grass. I'll swear it turned its head and seemed to be looking right at me, as if it were asking 'What are you waiting on'. I wondered myself and setting down the glasses I shouldered the M1 and began harvesting the unsuspecting bison. Smilodon's presence meant that I had to get on with it. When the cat decided to spring its ambush the bison would bolt en masse. They hadn't yet. Those near the ones I was dropping seemed to be getting a little anxious though. I gave it a ten-minute rest and then started again. Later I paused once more before finishing up. I'd dropped twenty-nine. I picked up the glasses and searching carefully I spotted the cat again. It was creeping closer to its end of the heard now. It was nearly six hundred yards from me and I thought about taking a shot. Then I thought again. It almost seemed that the cat had waited until I finished shooting before resuming its hunt. I picked up the M1 again and dropped two bison about four hundred yards from my spot and only about a hundred and seventy yards from the cat. It wouldn't have to hunt anymore today. Bigglieo asked me why I'd shot the two so far in the other direction. "The big cat has to eat too. If he rushed the herd we'd have to wait until the stampede was over and they might have trampled some of my kills. They'll probably just move off slowly if it approaches the two dead ones up there." I said. "That is very smart. When they run you can never be sure which way they will end up going. I have seen the cats try for them before and when they rush the bison run. If it walks up to the dead ones they probably won't run. You can be sure that they will leave though." Bigglieo said. My mates and the other observers had been spellbound. Most of them still were. When I stood slowly they came back to the here and now, and my mates rushed me laughing and all trying to hug me at once. "You are magic John. The bison just stood there and let you kill them with the thunder. It seemed that they didn't even know that they were in danger." Dieta gushed. "They didn't know that they were in danger. They heard the sound and thought it was thunder. They didn't see any lightning and so they were not afraid. You cannot tell from where I fire, but the bison that fall do it before the thunder gets to the bison. They see a bison fall but don't hear the thunder until it is down. They do get nervous after several fall though, that is why I would stop for a while." I told them all. "I have never seen anything like it before and I would not have believed you if you had told it to me." Racaato said. "That is why I knew I must show you. We should start preparing the bison now. I will go for the others and the wagons so we can begin. In fact I think that I had better stay up here and let one of you go. There is one big cat up there and there may be others." I told them pointing to Smilodon, who was now having bison brunch. "That is the long toothed one. I have seen one before, they are very fierce." Natalto volunteered. "Yes they are, that is why I killed two bison for it. It will not be nearly so fierce when it is no longer hungry." I said. "Good, let it eat until we are done." Barago said. "If it doesn't I will have two long teeth for a necklace. I think that even Smilodon can not eat two bison very fast though." I said and then laughed. Barago went to call the others and the wagons. I noticed that Britta didn't go with him and was staying with my mates. Dicky told me that it was good news and I told dicky to behave himself. I knew that I would be hiding him in Britta fairly frequently from now on. I could see the way that Britta was looking at me when she thought I wasn't noticing. The men weren't the only ones that were impressed by my hunting; in fact Erieta was keeping a close eye on me too. There was a treat that I was going to enjoy soon. Probably two days later during the mating ceremony. Nadlo, Jonoco and Danlo weren't the only ones that would be getting a taste of new pussy that night. While Dalia and Shelalliea were making sure Danlo knew what to do I intended for Britta and Erieta to make sure my bed didn't seem too roomy. I thought about it a little and decided it was a shame that Georgo didn't drink that much. No worries though, I'm sure Bigglieo would be as drunk as a man could get. No doubt that I would have to help Daleana and Suleita put him to bed and I'd probably need to offer them a place to sleep where they wouldn't have to listen to him snoring all night. Loading the wagons with their new apparatus proved practically painless. We didn't even gut the bison on the plateau. We just used the winch line to drag them onboard whole. The loading was no problem but when the big one was loaded there was a problem. It was a hell of a strain on Sally and Jane to move it. They got it going but I had to ask some of the men to help by pushing. The big wagon was going to need more than a two-horse team to be useful. I decided that I should probably drive it down the ramp the first time at least. I didn't want a runaway. I felt confident the Aliens had made sure that the brakes would be up to it but I wasn't going to take a chance. I hopped onto the rolling wagon and took the reins from Bigglieo before we started down. The brakes did fine and I almost laughed about being on a horse drawn wagon with four-wheel disc brakes. I made sure to tell Bigglieo to keep the heavily loaded wagon from building up any real speed on a downgrade instead of letting it get moving too fast and then trying to slow it down. I got off when we got to the bottom and walked back up to resume my vigil. Bigglieo and Barago drove the wagons to camp and most of the men went with them to help unload. The men would stay in camp and begin gutting and skinning while Bigglieo and Barago brought the wagons back for another load. Racaato had been examining some of the dead bison but quit and came back to me. "There is a small hole in each of the bison. Not as big as my little finger." He told me. "That is how it is done. Later I will show you exactly what happens. A tiny piece of metal comes out of the rifle's end and it goes into the bison and kills it." I told him. "But how?" He asked. "It will be better when we can sit down and I can show you exactly how." I said. He seemed satisfied with that and we spent the rest of the time while the wagons were away watching closely for big cats or other predators. It was easy since I had killed most of the bison in a small area. It wasn't sixty yards from one of the farthest to the other. When we had the last of the bison loaded we headed back. We hadn't needed to load the big wagon so heavily this time and Sally and Jane had no trouble. I walked with my mates, Georgo, Ladeliea and Britta. We mostly laughed and joked about all the work that would be waiting when we got back to camp. There was plenty of work too. I intended to dodge it this time and I had Bigglieo, Barago and Racaato come with me to the firing range as soon as the bison were all unloaded. It was the first sight of it for Barago and Racaato and they were as amazed as everyone else had been. I told Bigglieo to explain what he knew about it and that I would be back in a few minutes. I went back into my cave and took out my palm. I asked and they said that yes the quake was over and that it had been so small that we must not have noticed. They had seen the ones in camp react to it though. I asked if they had put lockers and equipment in place for Barago and Racaato and they assured me that they had. Lastly I asked Argent to send extra harness for the big wagon and to send the extra hardware I would need for a six-horse hitch. "Is it too heavy for two horses to pull?" Argent asked. "When it is loaded it is. Some of the men had to help get it moving with the first load." I explained. "Maybe we could arrange for you to capture some bigger horses. Aren't their larger horses that are used to pull heavier loads?" Argent asked. "Yes, but they were not around in this time." "Many of the things you already have weren't around in that time. I was proposing acquiring a few modern day horses for you." He said. "That would be great. What do you have in mind? It will look slightly suspicious if they just appear in the blind canyon." I said. "What if they appeared near where you found the last group? Couldn't you drive them into the pen you have built?" He wanted to know. "That would be the most normal looking way to do it. You would need to tell me exactly when they were coming though. If they were just put there to wait on me, they might end up as a meal for some predator before I could get them captured." I told him. "We will wait until you are ready then. Let me know when, where and how many you will want and we will take care of everything." Argent said. "That's what I'll do then." I sent and then I signed off. I pulled four beers and headed back to the range. Bigglieo's smile, when he saw me with the beer, could have lit the practice cave without any help. "John, the excellent bruga!" He almost shouted. I gave them each a mug and Bigglieo nearly let his get hot as he kept bragging on it. It wasn't hard for him to convince Barago or Racaato of the quality since I noticed that they nearly inhaled theirs. When we'd finished Bigglieo had to know. "Will we be having much bruga tonight?" He asked. "Not tonight. We will have too much work to do until after the mating. The night of the mating ceremony we will have more bruga than you can drink. More than the last time the earth shook." I told him. "Some of the men told me that the earth shook after they unloaded the first of the bison." Racaato said. "It did, I felt it where we hunted." I lied to him. "Maybe it did no damage again." Bigglieo said. "It did no damage. It did more good. I will show you after you see the new weapons." I said. "We have new weapons?" Racaato asked. "Yes, they are not rifles but they are much better than spears." I told him. I went to my locker to retrieve my bow and some arrows again. I gave another little demo and then spent two hours teaching them enough to get them started. Racaato could hit the target easily every time at one hundred yards. Of course the target was a circle three feet in diameter but it was still a good start for him. Bigglieo and Barago weren't far behind him either. Finally I called a halt and we stored our equipment. When we left I led them through the exit that led to their new digs. When we got into their new common area I got a surprise myself. There were accommodations for two more families than I had expected. I told them to look around at their new homes for a few minutes and went back into my cave. I sat down at Frank this time and sent a quick message. When Argent replied I asked him what the story was. "We have information that you do not John. The camp that you were planning on inviting will come and ask to join you, it would have been another week or two but we are sure that when your runner tells them of the mating they will come intending to stay if you let them. We have merely tried to anticipate your needs. "I should also tell you that we think that Caato and his camp are seriously considering joining you also if you will let them. They are worried that you will reject them because of the unpleasantness you have suffered from that camp." Argent said. "Then you should probably make room for Caato and his main man too." I said. "We can do it now if you like." He said. "Do it, but if you can, do it quickly and make the ground shake enough to scare the other men out of their new caves." I said. "We will do it." He sent and signed off. The ground started a small but noticeable vibrating almost at once. I heard some yelling and the shaking increased. I got my own ass out of my cave and saw that Bigglieo, Barago and Racaato had beat me out by a long while. Georgo, Bigglieo, Barago and Racaato went back into the caves with me about thirty minutes after the mini quake was over. We saved the new accommodations for last. When we entered them, sure enough, there were two more chambers and some of the originals had been slightly rearranged. None of the others, even those that had already seen the new caves, noticed. I asked Bigglieo to fetch Galto for me before I made the happy announcement, and I took Georgo back almost to my cave to talk to him privately. "The other camp you told me of will be asking to join us soon; Caato will almost surely want to join us also. That is who the extra chambers are for. Can you explain it to them and make it seem right?" I asked Georgo. "But when did you find out?" Georgo asked. "I left Bigglieo and the others in the practice cave and came to the kitchen to get us all a mug of beer. I felt weak and had to sit down at the table and when I did a vision came to me. It told me about the other camps coming to join us and then it said that the ground would shake again. I felt nervous taking the beer back to the others." I told Georgo, making it up as I went. "Do not worry, they are anxious from the quaking and it will be easier on them if I give them an explanation to account for it. They will believe almost any reason now because they have nothing else to explain how such a thing could happen. They will want to believe." Georgo told me confidently. He paid for his cave all over again when he went back to them. Bigglieo was back with Galto and Georgo explained exactly who the new caves were for and told them in no uncertain terms that they had been provided by the spirits. He reminded all of them that they should be sure to thank the spirits in their own way and that they should not take the gifts lightly. They were so fucking happy to have something to believe that I was afraid that a prayer meeting was about to break out. Thankfully they didn't know about baptism or they would have all been in the river in seconds. I had to force myself to quit thinking things like that because it was hard as hell not to laugh out loud about it. Bigglieo asked the sixty-four dollar question then. "But who are the other new places for?" "The spirits have let me know that we will soon have other camps joining us. Probably some that come for the mating ceremony will want to stay." Georgo told them. "When they taste the bruga they will all want to stay. They will probably taste it until they can't leave for several days anyway." Bigglieo said and we all laughed at that. They took a little tour of their new quarters then and were surprised by their beds. It was plain for them to see who went where because the beds were marked with pictures of them and their mates; also the bed's coverlets were of the same type skin as the new clothes of the women that had them. I paid extra attention to the skins on the beds of women that I hadn't had the pleasure of taking yet. They were all patterned after different cats. When the men had finished looking around I suggested that they go and tell their mates to come so that Georgo could explain to them and so they could get a look at their new homes, as they were leaving I reminded Bigglieo to tell Dargo's mate to come also. Dargo was off spreading the news but there was no need for his mate to be kept in the dark. When the women came in Georgo gave them nearly the same talk and then we let them look around. Trying to be the helpful host I went with them while they oohed and ahhed over their new digs. Britta, Daleana and Sulieta were thrilled that their new covers matched their outfits. Daleana and Sulieta were doubly excited. Their new outfits were different and there were two coverlets for their bed. One lynx to match Daleana's outfit and one Cheetah to match Sulieta's. I guessed that they could alternate. It didn't matter to me how they worked it out but it surely had them excited. I was able to determine which of the two women I didn't know belonged to which man with the help of the pictures on the beds. I had seen Galto's mate before; I just didn't know that she was his mate. She was a cute little brunet with big brown eyes and a big smile. She was about five-six but I couldn't tell much about her body since she was wearing the normal tunic and trousers. For the life of me I couldn't figure out how I had missed Dargo's mate before. She was a cute little thing, barely five foot two. Her black hair and light complexion reminded me of Dalia and Delia and as best I could tell she had more titty than you would expect on a girl her size; also reminiscent of Dalia and Delia. Her eyes were a very dark brown and seemed almost liquid. She was clearly excited and pleased by her new quarters and it made me want to go tell her that I had arranged it this way just so I could fuck her. I didn't though. She would find out soon enough. I asked Georgo to make sure that they all stayed with him while I went out to fetch one of my mates. I wanted to make sure that all our new neighbors knew that they would be welcome in the kitchen. I ran across Dalia first and when I asked she said that she would be glad to talk to the women and to explain a few things to the two that hadn't seen the kitchen before. When we got back inside Georgo seemed relieved and he wasted no time saying that he had to go meditate. Dalia and I took all the women into our cave and I let her do the talking. She explained to all of them that they were expected to use the kitchen as if it were theirs. Most of them had already learned a lot about it from Frank and the lessons and from the time they'd spent in it already. Sarieta, Galto's mate, and Loreena, Dargo's mate, were both lost though. They stayed with Dalia and I for a little bit of instruction while the other women went back outside and back to work on the bison. I stayed close while Dalia gave them a short run through on the basics. I was sorely tempted to give them a lesson myself but I didn't. I was dodging the work with the bison already and somehow it didn't seem right to spend the afternoon fucking while most everyone else was working. When Dalia finished showing them the kitchen she took them over to familiarize them with Frank. She explained that they only needed to ask Frank to show them about the kitchen and that he would begin their lessons. She also explained that they could stop him at any time and pick up again later or even go back over something he had already taught them if they didn't remember part of it. Dalia's next trick was my favorite of the day. She showed Sarieta and Loreena how to make me a sandwich and French fries and how to pull me a beer. When a smiling Loreena brought me my plate. I couldn't help giving her ass a little feel through her trousers as she bent over to set it down. She turned to look at me and smiled then she gave me a peck on the cheek. Sarieta brought me a beer then and I got a little fondle in on her also and she kissed me on the lips. I didn't feel like eating alone so I pulled her into my lap so she could keep dicky warm while I ate. She giggled and blushed and wiggled her ass in my lap until I had a huge hardon. I didn't feel nearly as guilty about skipping the work when my dick got hard and while I was eating with one hand I let the other creep up under her tunic to find a titty to tease. She sighed when I palmed her tit and leaned back against my chest contentedly as I pulled and twisted her nipples between bites of the sandwich. Loreena didn't miss the little byplay. When I emptied that mug of beer she brought me another. Sarieta got up to give her a turn when she brought it over. As Loreena sat in my lap she gave me a deep kiss and sent her tongue in to check out mine. Then she leaned back against me too. When I explored her titties I found that I'd been right. They were bigger than they had any right to be on such a small girl. The nipples were quick to pop up too and she seemed especially pleased when I pulled on them fairly firmly. I think that we were both a little sad to see the last of my lunch. We did manage to call it quits on the teasing then though and while Dalia showed them how to feed the dishwasher I went back to the practice cave. I didn't really have much in mind to do in here but I needed something to pass the afternoon. I went to my locker thinking of running a few rounds through the eight-millimeter just for old time sake. I tabled that motion when I opened the door though; the.50 was back. I took it out to look it over and the first thing I noticed was that it looked like the last foot of the barrel had been replaced by a big silencer. I didn't understand why they would do that but when I looked at it more closely I could see that the rifling still extended all the way to the end of the muzzle. So the barrel was still the same length but the last foot of it was more than an extra inch in diameter. I looked at the butt then and saw that there was now a respectable recoil pad on the end and the stock seemed to have just the tiniest separation all the way around it just behind the pistol grip. I set it down and took out the Palm. After I'd made contact I got an explanation. The big appendage on the barrel wasn't an appendage at all. A new barrel had been made out of a titanium billet. By some type of Alien magic they could do machine work from the inside out. The compensator served as a slight silencer but more as a way to direct the spent gases after the powder burned. It had been designed to use the escaping gas to tone down barrel climb and recoil. The small line I'd noticed around the butt stock was so that the stock could compress around itself. There were three gas filled shock absorbers inside the now partially hollow stock. They functioned very much like shock absorbers on a car. Nothing to do but try it and see. I got some ammunition and ran a target all the way out, took a rest at the bench and squeezed off a shot. I was amazed. The compensator also killed almost all of the muzzle flash and the report was not even loud enough to make me use ear protection. The recoil was a lot less than half of what it had been. Shit I wanted to go look for mammoth right now. The rifle did weigh a little more now, probably about twenty pounds but it wasn't like I'd be walking a long way and carrying it. I fired about fifty rounds and ended up setting the impact point six inches high at three hundred yards. I didn't really know how much bullet drop to expect but doubted I'd be trying for anything at over five hundred yards and guesstimated that I had it close enough. I put up my mini cannon and other things and went back into my cave and then outside. I was amazed at the progress that had been made. Of course we had a lot more help now and we had less to do since we could freeze the meat. Still I hadn't thought that most of the meat would be put away already. There were only five bison left to be cut up. The others were already in the frozen cave. While all the skins still needed more stretching they were at least all on racks now. Washing out and saving the internal organs was where most of the work that remained was, along with rendering the fat. There was a hell of a lot of fat on twenty-nine bison this late in the year. They were working on it though. There were several fires with skin bags suspended over them and water and fat in them cooking. I gave up on loafing and went to help with the washing of internal parts. Yes it was a shitty job. We kept at it until after sunset though. The next morning after breakfast it was more of the same. I was surprised at the progress we made though. We were basically done by a couple of hours after noon. Then it was into the showers with my mates. Kateata snuck in with us and we had a grand time in the shower and then we all piled into the largest hot tub and let the jets loose. After we dried and left the bathroom I took my mates back to the practice cave and got them all started with their bows. I also showed them all how to operate the target trolleys so that they could pull the target in until they hit it and work it back out, as they got more comfortable. Their learning curve was much steeper than I would have thought. I was pretty sure that they would be able to hunt with the bows within a month or two. I doubted that we would have much in the way of hunting weather by then though. After about an hour and a half of practice we went back to the cave and the girls went to the kitchen. I had fresh bison for my supper along with beans, French fries and bread. I was in heaven. I ate until I couldn't stuff any more in and then lay around in the bed while my mates had frank give them some archery lessons. I drifted off to sleep and didn't wake when they came to bed. I was roused early the next morning and woke to the smell of coffee and frying bacon. I could get used to this life. Especially the morning kitchen detail, which now included Britta, Erieta, Sulieta, Cahttiea, Daleana, Sarieta and Loreena. Some of them were cooking and some of the newer arrivals were watching. I smiled to myself when I glanced at Erieta, Sarieta, Cahttiea or Loreena. Since they still had their original type clothes on I was reminded that soon they would be naked and dripping in my bed as they earned their new outfits. I looked forward to introducing these new neighbors to fucking. This reminded me of the four virgins on the other side of my cave. Shallea, Shaala, Melieta and Jaiya. I would be bumping their fuzz pretty soon also. If dicky'd had a tongue he would have been licking his chops. Ladeliea came in then from her and Georgo's cave and walked right up to me, giving me a big good morning kiss. I returned the favor and gave her naked ass, under her Wilma dress, a good morning groping. "What have you done with Georgo? Is he too tired to come to breakfast?" I asked. "No, he is awake but won't be in for a few more minutes. He told me to make sure that you were in a good mood this morning." She whispered in my ear as she pressed her pelvis against my upper arm. I caressed up her leg from her knee until I felt her fuzz against my hand and told her that she had me in a good mood already. She trapped my hand against her sex by pressing her thighs together on it and kissed me again. I could feel her just begining to moisten. She relented in a few seconds and left to try and horn her way into cooking position. Britta came to me with my breakfast then and I didn't miss the fact that she got as close to me as possible when she set it down. She raised her lips for a kiss too and she wasn't shy about pushing her tongue into my mouth. When I had my hand up against her pussy she broke the kiss to do a little whispering of her own. "Tomorrow night, after Barago, Natalto and Racaato are asleep from the bruga I will bring Cahttiea and Erieta to you. I want to watch you fuck them." She whispered into my ear. "You know that I'm going to fuck you again too don't you?" I asked. "I hoped you would. You should fuck me first and let them see it. It will help them remember their place." She said and I noticed that it made her tremble and that her pussy was pulsing. "I will be sure to give you a good workout. You will be screaming for me and they will be surprised." I threatened. She shivered again and told me that she could hardly wait. If Georgo hadn't come in for his breakfast then I might have taken her over to the bed and made her scream this morning. I knew that he hadn't missed the little by play between Britta and me. "Good morning Georgo." I said. "Good morning to you John. I'm glad to see you in a good mood today. I sent Ladeliea ahead to make sure but from the way Britta was hovering over you I don't guess she had a chance to." He said in a low tone and grinning. "She greeted me before Britta brought me my breakfast. I was in a very good mood before Britta got over here." I told him. "I know that you have plenty of mates to see to you but I didn't think that you would mind if Ladeliea told her leader good morning." Georgo whispered again. "Mind, I was overjoyed and you know it. Has she been prancing for you in the thong again?" "Has she ever. I am not as young as you are John but every time she starts prancing around and shaking her naked ass I am on fire. I am afraid it may kill me some day but if it does I will die smiling. I just thought I had it good when I was traveling all the time with a different woman to comfort me in each camp. It is better to have one woman that really wants to be with you." He told me. "Wait until we have secured the others that you had in mind. When they are all prancing at once you might burn completely up." I teased him. "They will probably both come to the mating ceremony. I will be happy to see them." He said. "We must make sure that they never leave then. There will be no point in them going back so that we will have to go and fetch them." I pointed out. "I feel sure that there will be no problem for Yotalieta, in fact she is from the other camp that I told you needed to join yours. Baahaya's camp is doing well on its own though, the leader is a good man but he can be stubborn. He might insist that Baahaya return with them until her mating price is paid." Georgo told me. "We will see what happens when and if they come here then. If their leader is a stubborn man he had better watch his manners while he is here. There is plenty of room for him underground. What does his mate look like anyway?" I asked and tried to look innocent. Georgo was silent and a little shocked I think, for a few seconds at least. Then he gave me a slight smile. "You do not like for people to disturb your plans do you John?" He asked. "It isn't so much that Georgo. I don't hold anyone here at my camp by force or anything else. They are each their own person. They are all free to come and go, as they like. I am the leader and I make the rules but if they don't want to live by my rules all they have to do is leave; and I will not hinder them. In fact if they want to leave I will make sure that they have plenty of food and other supplies to take with them. "I don't mean to say that every leader must be that generous but I am saying that none will hold his people by force if they want to join my camp. I will make sure of it. I do not intend to make sure that everyone everywhere lives up to my expectations but if they come to my camp they will do so while they are here and those that want to stay here and are willing to work and obey my rules will be able to stay here, no matter who I have to kill to insure it." I said. "That sounds like a fair way to act but it hasn't been our way in the past. It is not our custom and others may not want to abide by it." Georgo told me. "That is fine. All they have to do is make me conform to their ways then. I think that they will have a bigger job than they want." I said, probably bragging. "I know that they will have a much bigger job than they can do. It will be a shame though if good men have to die because of it." Georgo said. "Just think back Georgo, how many good men have I killed?" I asked. "I see your point. I can't think of a one you have killed that didn't bring it on himself. Only Jabo, Jenbo, Gembo and Jenabo were even productive and all would agree that they were troublesome men and brought their deaths on themselves." Georgo said. "Holding a person against their will is a bigger injustice to me than trying to kill me. I will not tolerate it. I will pay the mating price for any woman you want to mate and I will be glad to go up on the plateau and kill all the bison they ask for Baahaya. If they are disagreeable about it though they can clean and carry them without our help." I said. "Then there can be no dispute. If you kill the bison for Baahaya's mating price they cannot argue. Bringing the payment to the camp is never part of the price. Help by the hunter is appreciated and I have never heard of a hunter refusing to help but it is not the hunter's responsibility. If they demand payment before the mating and you can provide it then it is their job to process and carry the payment. They might not ask for bison though." Georgo said. "I will pay their price, whatever it is. You are very good at dealing with things like this Georgo, don't you think that you will be able to negotiate a price in bison?" I asked. "I'm sure I will, it is the women that set the price and they will not dream that you are able to supply bison so quickly. I'm sure that they have heard of what you did before but they probably don't believe it. I will offer bison and if they do not agree rapidly I will offer more bison. Once they agree we will negotiate the terms of payment. I will tell them that if they want them all at once they should be ready to take care of them the next morning." Georgo said and laughed. "What are you laughing about?" "They will not be able to carry more than two bison per trip to their camp, even after it is cut up and dried. They will do it our way or they will lose most of what they bargain for." He said and laughed again. "If they will be reasonable about it I will send them home in the wagons with fifteen to twenty bison." "The price will not be that high John. I'm sure that it won't be more than six or seven bison, especially since I will be glad to let them have skins and all." Georgo told me. "In that case, if we all help we can process them in a day or two easily. It will take another few days to dry all the meat, but we have one cave that is practically empty. We could dry it in there with just a few fires. It will take some time to build enough racks though." I said. "Yes and it would be easier on them if you could go to their camp and kill the bison closer to where they live. They would not be able to deal with very many at one time though." Georgo said. "We will find some way to make sure it is done. I might even try to teach Racaato to use a rifle and let him go and stay with them to kill the bison if he will. I still need to pay for Shelalliea, Dalia, Shaala and Shallea, if I could get Racaato going with a rifle he could just tend to if for me." I said. "That would be perfect. I know that Racaato would do anything to have the skill with the rifle. He would be glad to go back with them and do the hunting. Can you teach him so fast though?" Georgo asked. "I can't teach him all I know but I can teach him enough to kill bison, or other large animals. I will start today. I think that I will teach him to ride a horse first though. I don't want him to have to walk the whole way." We had finished eating long ago and I was on my second mug of coffee. All the other women were gone to feed their mates and if it hadn't been for Shallea, Shaala, Melieta, Jaiya, Ladeliea and Kateata my cave would seem vacant with only my mates, Georgo and I. They had just finished cleaning up from breakfast and came over to sit at the table with us. Ladeliea sat by Georgo. "Ladeliea, are you ready for me to take two more mates to join us?" Georgo asked her. She practically shouted yes and in an instant she was dragging Georgo back to their cave, presumably to thank him. All my mates snickered at this and Dalia said that they had better start making sure Georgo ate more. We all had a small laugh at that and then I headed outside to see what was going on. Chapter 30 Back to story Index Back to cmsix Index Blog eMail cmsix I claim copyright on everything from here on in, inclusive - cmsix